The SAO Summer Intern Program is a 10-week NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) internship where students take on an astrophysics research project with an SAO or Harvard scientist. Students are expected to work at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics for the full duration of the program. We house our interns in Harvard's graduate student dormitory facilities.

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The program is funded by the National Science Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution. Undergraduates who are US citizens or green card holders at the time of the internship are eligible to apply. For more details regarding eligibility requirements, see the FAQ page.

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The many potential areas of research at the CfA can be seen here and can involve data from a host of facilities, including space-based telescopes like NASA's Kepler, Spitzer, and Chandra missions (among others), and the many ground-based observatories often used by SAO scientists, such as:

• The Submillimeter Array in Hawaii
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• The MMT on Mt. Hopkins in Arizona
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• The Magellan Telescopes on Las Campanas, in Chile
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• The Millimeter-Wave Telescope in Cambridge
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• Undergraduate students interested in astronomy, astrophysics, physics, or related physical sciences are encouraged to apply. We provide a wide range of projects to our interns. That said, we have noticed in recent years that many of our projects involve programming tasks, and Python tends to figure prominently in them. You may find it helpful to bring some Python proficiency to your internship -- but this is by no means required; we have hosted many successful interns with NO prior programming experience. In a similar vein, you may find it useful to have taken at least an introductory Astronomy course, for scientific context. Again, that is NOT required.

I am a high school student. I'm taking some undergraduate courses now too, but I'm still technically in high school. Am I eligible for your program?

• You are eligible if you are enrolled in a degree granting program and will be 18 years of age or older before June 2019. A number of high school students take a college course at a local college but are not enrolled in a degree granting program. Thus most high school students are not eligible. If you are eligible, the answer to the question about whether or not college freshmen applicants have a chance at an internship provides further information you might find useful.

I'll be graduating from college in June. Am I still eligible?

• No. The SAO Summer Intern program is only open to those who are enrolled as undergraduates at the time of the internship. Graduating seniors are not eligible. This is an NSF requirement for all REU programs.

I am a foreign student. Can I be an intern?

• The NSF specifies that students must be United States citizens, or have a Green Card to be funded REU interns. This rule extends to foreign students who are enrolled in United States colleges and universities. "J1" or other visas are not sufficient.
• If you are unsure about your status, please contact us.
• For the many highly-qualified students who are not eligible for REU internships, the Web is probably the best source for information about other jobs and internships.
• Ask your professors, teachers, friends and/or family members if they know anyone who works in science (and/or in industry, depending on your area of interest) in the U.S. A.. Someone might be able to put you in touch with a scientist who could provide you with summer work or with another type of internship.
• If you find a job possibility or an internship, please be sure to check what visa (if any) is required. The visa-acquisition process changes, so please be sure to research the matter carefully and allow the time needed for the paper-work to be processed.

I am a U.S. citizen, studying abroad. Am I eligible?

• Yes. As long as you are a citizen or have a valid Green Card, and as long as you are enrolled in a program that leads to an undergraduate degree, you are eligible. If you are not sure whether or not your study program fits this guideline, please contact us. Our team includes scientists who did their degrees abroad, so we understand that you may not have a US-style GPA - just provide information on your grades/performance in the format usual for the country you are in.